Vitaly Fleganov, the initiator of the not approved by the authorities rally against the corruption in Petrozavodsk, was detained by the police, as reported on March 28 by Nikolay Fleganov, a lawyer and a close relative of the detainee.
According to Nikolay Fleganov, the detention took place on March 26, and it was preceded by a strange story. Before the arrival of the police, plainclothes men who introduced themselves as social activists tried to take Vitaly away in an unknown direction. They failed to do this, but continued to hold the activist.
"I arrived at Vitaly's house seven to eight minutes after the incident began, it happened that I was not far from the scene," the lawyer said. "By that moment the police squad has been already there. Apparently, several people of medium build were waiting for him at the entrance. When he came out, they tried to force put him into the car by force, so that, I believe, take him somewhere and "to talk". But his neighbours won him away. They were not policemen, in any case, they did not have any kind of uniform, and they refused to show their documents. When I demanded from them to show documents, they answered me that they are "social activists". The police refused to detain and identify them, but they detained Vitaly despite my outcry. I have not been explained the grounds for detention for a long time. At the police station, they told me that Vitaly allegedly has a statement [on an article on violation of the rules of organizing a rally, article 20.2 of the Administrative Code of Russian Federation], he was taken explanations, and then released. In total, he spent over three hours in the department of the MIA [Ministry of Internal Affairs] from the moment of detention. Now he is staying in one safe place, because we have some kinds of fears. Now he avoids making contacts with anyone," he said.
Nikolay Fleganov referred to eyewitnesses (they have photos showing the faces of the incident participants) and video from outside surveillance cameras. He promised to publish them after he would find out all the circumstances of the incident. The lawyer sent statements to the Interior Ministry about the illegal inaction of police officers. If it is not followed by an appropriate response, he intends to file a suit.
The rally against corruption took place in Petrozavodsk, as well as in other cities of Russia, on Sunday, March 26. According to the MIA of Karelia press office, the police officers detained six people at the rally. No complaints were made against the rally applicant Vitaly Fleganov, who was detained later.